Two new restaurants in NYC look to turn difficulty into opportunity

NEW YORK - A wise man once said, "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

And while the future for restaurants in New York City may look grim, some local entrepreneurs have decided to take a positive outlook and open up new restaurants in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Manhattan is where I wanted to be," said Manish Chadha, owner of Singas Famous Pizza on the Upper East Side. "I think when it was a ghost town I told my wife 'go start looking for a store' and she thought I was out of my mind. And she said 'No you're not.' And I said this is the time you have to expand, you can't be scared, because New York is going to come back, it's going to come back higher than before."

Located on 2nd Avenue and 69th Street, Singas makes fresh-to-order pizzas using a special blend of cheeses and sauce.

• New York City winter outdoor dining guidelines

"Pizza's a very simple thing," Chadha said. "It's not rocket science. The problem is when people try to hurry it up and sell it cheap, it does not work."

Meanwhile, across the East River in Brooklyn, Hole in the Wall has taken its place as one of Williamsburg's newest restaurants.

Located at the intersection of Grand Street and Bedford Avenue, owner Tom Rowse thought a grand opening during a pandemic was a grand idea.

• Amid COVID, many businesses in precarious spot as 2020 ends

"The city was really due for a reset with the rate that rents were going up," Rowse said. "As bad and as tough as it's been for so many people, there is opportunity there."

While no-one knows what the future holds for New York City and its restaurants, the entrepreneurial spirit of the city will never die.